Summer's Down | Finish

in the fall of 2012, i became bored, listless. i was even disinterested in music, which had been a source of happiness to me always.

and then i heard this song. (go ahead, push play! it will add to the experience!)

"summer's down" by blue boats.

it changed everything for me. somehow, this one song represented freedom and joy and injected a spark back into my life. i listened to it on repeat, constantly. it truly inspired me. i sang along loudly in my car. i played it for everyone who would listen. i was so taken with it.

so of course, i had to make a quilt! and what better to represent freedom and joy than bluebirds? i modified a maple leaf block, when i left off the stems they looked like bluebirds in flight to me.

i collected many fabrics, all shades of blue and unisex patterns. i wanted there to be an abstract hint of water, as well as sky. there is a lone lavender flyer because, well, i am a bit of an odd bird. there's always one.

the back.

my signature block.

i used a 100% cotton batting, the loft is very light, it will be a nice springtime picnic quilt. finished dimensions 70" x 69"

i used mattress ticking for the binding, i love how it turned out.

thank you, olly blue boats for making your wonderful song. thanks for waking me up. and thanks for the inspiration that is now the summer's down quilt. :)

bali pop quilt finish!

i finished this bali pop quilt last night, it will be a gift for my niece autumn, who is two years old.

i got the balipop at bolts in the bathtub in lancaster, ca, and picked up some starry night backing at joann's.

i used a pink star print for the binding and i signed and dated the quilt on the back bottom corner.

i loved working with batiks, they are the same on both sides, so i had to be extra careful when making the top! but they are so gorgeous.

finished size is 52 x 56, a child size quilt.

jelly roll quilt FINISH

i made this jelly roll quilt for my friend sherri as a birthday gift.

i ordered a jelly roll from fat quarter shop called birds & berries by lauren and jessi jung for moda fabrics. i thought it fit sherri's personality and the prints reminded me of her. i also mixed in some solids from a bright kona solids jelly roll.

i tricked sherri into picking out the backing fabrics, she had no idea the quilt was for her. i love the florals she chose from joann's.

used straightline quilting on my singer machine and then made the binding from an orange polka dot. i like using dots for bindings. i think all the fabrics somehow work well together.

jelly roll quilt in progress

i started a jelly roll race quilt to give to my friend sherri, her birthday is coming up. besides being my good friend and adopted family member for the last ten years, sherri is my quilting buddy. my pattern has been to order fabric online for quilt tops and then go with sherri to a brick and mortar store to pick out backing. she has an incredible eye and it really helps to have someone to bounce ideas off of during the fabric selection process. i ordered a jelly roll online, all prints, and added in about a dozen solid strips of complimentary colors to beef it up in size.

somehow the stripes run vertically? i'm not sure how this happened.

my cat natasha approves. so the funniest part of all of this to me is that after i finished the top, i dragged sherri to the store with me to pick out the backing. i stood back and let her make all the choices, she was very excited. i LOVE that she picked out the back for her own quilt and she didn't even know it! sherri also helped me smooth and pin the quilt sandwich together. this is always the most challenging part for me, i need some tips!

i did straightline quilting on my machine, and just finished the quilting a couple of days ago. i had ended up cutting the back a little short, so i had to add a couple of solid strips for coverage. not ideal but quilts are patchwork, right?

her birthday is sunday so i just have to do the binding by then! i can't wait to give it to her! i will do a finish post with better photos when it's all done!

mod half-square triangle quilt FINISH!!

finished quilting and binding today! Half-Square Triangle quilt, inspired by quilt story, this design is also called depression block. finished dimensions: 64.5" x 64.5" (fits the top of my queen bed nicely) fabrics used: aviary2 by joel dewberry, from southern fabric (charm packs). bella snow charm packs from fat quarter shop. backing and binding from my local joann's.

here is my signature block :)

someone has already claimed it for their own...

forward momentum

Today I made insane progress on my quilt.

When I woke up I had 13 blocks not sewn together.

I finished the last three blocks and then sewed all of them together,
completing the quilt top.

Sherri came over and we discussed the size and if i wanted to do a frame. we decided it was a good size since it fits the top of my bed pretty well.

then we went to joanns. She helped me pick out fabrics for
the backing. Unexpectedly, a green paisley was the one that spoke to both
of us. Green?? There's no green in the entire quilt but somehow it worked.
I also picked a muted orange print to pair it with. I chose a dark brown
with white polka dot for the binding, I'm going to attempt to make my own
bias tape with it. We also chose a muted blue thread to quilt with and
picked up some batting.

Once we got home I was excited to move forward. I sewed the backing fabrics
together quickly (one seam) and pressed them. Then sherri helped me put the
quilt sandwich (quilt top, batting, backing) together. This is the hardest
part and where I get the most frustrated but sherri helped a lot. We
smoothed and pinned and smoothed and pinned. And smoothed some more and
pinned some more.

Then she helped me guide the bulkiest parts of the quilt through the
machine. I did HALF of the straightline quilting tonight!!!! Half. Tomorrow
I quilt the rest and then try to bind it.

Feeling awesome about it. Yay!!

half square triangle quilt progress

it's been a long hot summer of no quilting. i just tend to put sewing away in the heat, but it's starting to think about being fall outside and i recently resurrected my project!

i am doing a pattern based on quilt story's HST quilt.

previous progress (feb 2012): 184 half square triangles made. 1 block (of 16 hsts) made.

current progress: day one i put together five blocks.

 day two i churned out four more. i got to the point where i realized i was going to need more fabric. i ordered more and within the week i made 64 additional half square triangles and one more block.

8 blocks shown. i want this quilt to be 16 blocks, which i think will give me 64" x 64" for the pieced top.

i find it very therapeutic to line up my seams, to sew the edges together.

 i love the contrast of the traditional piecing pattern and the modern fabrics, and i love using a lot of white.

i am excited by my progress and hope to pick out a (brown? maybe with small blue calico pattern?) backing really soon!! i want to add a frame around the pieced top and use the same fabric for backing.